Creative Energy Begins in the Young

       We had another art experience courtesy of children at play. They were just doing what pleased them and the results were mind boggling. We, the grandparents, sit and watch in wonder at the shear flow of creative energy being generated after a long day of school. 

       The third grader is on the computer making a fast car to race. Superchargers and racing tires rated for high speed in place and off he goes learning about G forces. The pre-k artist is drawing a prehistoric shark. He gets scissors working to cut out his creation that Picasso would have been proud to see.

       Watching these young children grow and develop is my open door to the complex world of the creative process. Both have the drive to express the mysterious energy that flows in all of us. Each child releases the desire to make something in different ways. After their personal experience there is the moment of sharing and, through our admiration, the sense of fulfillment of their creative journey.

     

Nautilus, 24x24
currently at Riverwalk Theatre 

 This early spring has been a time for me to share my creative output and it really has been a trip of sharing. The two main shows went up with the usual details covered – one at Shiawassee Art Center (SAC) and the other still exhibiting until May 30 at Riverwalk Theatre Lobby, an elegantly design lighted to view a couple of dozen wall art pieces. We had a chance to meet the fine folks that put art shows together and work with them and experience their creative challenges. We also, gratefully, had sales of strong works and one award at the SAC membership show – a large abstract titled Rise Up.

Rise Up winner of Best Abstract at SAC Membership show, May 2017

       We all have the buildup of creative energy. Once we put the energy to work, we are compelled to share the sense of fulfillment that comes with the positive responses we receive.

Thank you to all who support the arts. Here’s to a creative summer.

Joel, www.joelellisart.com , www.joelellisart.com

Local mid-Michigan people will want to check out the Mid-Michigan Art Guild 12x12 Show. Some fine small sized art at Framer's Edge, Haslett, Michigan.

The beautiful Shiawassee Art Center, Owosso, Michigan, 206 Curwood Castle Dr. now celebrating 45 years! Open new hours Monday-Friday 12-5, Saturday and Sunday 12-4, Free admission.

Quest 40x30
currently exhibited at Riverwalk Theatre

Riverwalk Theatre http://riverwalktheatre.com, 228 Museum Drive, Lansing Michigan, the lobby is designed especially as an art gallery, now exhibiting 24 Joel Ellis favorites.

Picasso Answers: What Is It?

       Viewing art is an art itself. When we go to a museum or gallery to view the works, we want to see and feel a new view of our world and be empowered and nourished to go out and accomplish our goals. Or if we just want to feel good by being in a pleasant environment, a few hours walking through the galleries can bring us to a pleasant state of mind. We become involved with the artists history, the why and how and when the art pieces were created and the influences that sparked the creative outcome.

Spring Marsh Song, 36x36  acrylic on canvas

       A few days ago we were exchanging some paintings at a medical venue when a fellow artist said, “Joel, I think I know what the painting is, tulips.” She was very pleased with her guess because the title of the painting included spring, Spring Marsh Song. The pleasant moments from my childhood often emerge in a mystical surprise as the marshes near my family home slips into a painting. The spring sounds of  red winged black bird songs used to leave a lasting imprint that appears in a painting many years later. 

       Picasso said, "Everyone wants to understand painting. Why don’t they try to understand the song of the birds? Why do they love the night, a flower, everything that which surrounds man, without attempting to understand them?”

       Artists call upon their environments that have made an influence on their subliminal levels which can influence the creative outcome. When the viewer places tulips in her question, “what is the painting all about” she makes a personal contact with the painting and the artist.

       This drive to understand a painting by relating it to images that seem “real” in our personal history helps viewers to feel in control of the sometimes abstract world around us.  The artist expressing sights and sensations abstractly will continue to respond creatively from floods of input as in a spring walk in a very busy marsh. 

       

What is it?  (see below)

Go to a museum or gallery this month. Keep on viewing art.

Joel     

(We call it Earth Cycle, 18x24, acrylic on linen)

Big Surprise in Fort Wayne Indiana!

Out of the Box  20x24 acrylic on linen

       We have been preparing a show of 30 paintings for ShiawasseeArt Center (SAC) the last few weeks. All the paintings are framed and in shipping boxes waiting for the drop off day. The prep work for any major show takes many hours of caring for details and at times frustrating delays but all is completed as we are looking at our sore finger tips from the hanging wires. Ah, a sigh of relief.  

       Helene and I needed a little R and R so we took a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana to the art center area. The first visit was to Art Link, an old favorite art venue. In one small gallery space we saw young children’s art that was so pure and sweet. We could just imagine the small hands plying with their creations. Art Link shares space in a building of Arts United. Lots of education going on here that includes visual and performing arts.

       Across the street at the newly redesigned Fort Wayne Museum of Art (FWMoA) we were astounded again by young artists from high schools in 54 counties of Indiana and Ohio. The museum offers one of the rare scholastic arts programs in the country highlighting the value of art education. The works of these young people was very inspiring and gave us hope that the new generations will be just fine and the arts will thrive into the future.

      We walked through the American Tapestry Biennial 9 show in another gallery of the museum with intricate beautiful works. We said to each other, “how can this get any better?”

The next large gallery room we glided into under the haze of Stendhal syndrome - too much fine art. We almost zipped through this gallery of large colorful paintings without a closer look. Stendhal on hold our quick glance around the large gallery was stunning. I had to sit and regain some form of composure. While sitting in a stage of utter surprise I let the magnificent paintings come to me, and they came - with their stories and their own histories of survival.

       Closer inspection of images spanning mid-century master works surprised me. Hidden Treasures the sign said: The John Whittenberger Collection of G. David Thompson at Peru Indiana High School. What? A high school collection in Peru, Indiana? What was this story all about? We asked at the desk and got a fragment of the story. Thanks to the internet we were able to piece most of the story together.

       G. David Thompson, a Peru High School alumni back in 1913, called a troubled student, found art and art appreciation through a beloved teacher, John Whittenberger. Thompson left Indiana for Pittsburg where he became a financial investor and an executive in Pittsburgh steel industry. But it was art and art collection that gave him great pleasure. In 1938 he donated 8 pieces of his collection to Peru High School in the name of his mentor, Whittenberger.

       Throughout the years until his death Thompson donated a rich collection of works by Picasso, Dali, Miro, Roualt, Predergast, and dozens of other fine art paintings along with ancient Oriental pottery, 200 items in all. The trouble was over those years that these treasured works became too valuable to hang on the walls of the old high school. When the new school was built in 1970 the works were tucked carefully away in a closet designated as the janitor’s supply room. Art teachers over those years knew about the works and even used a few now and then for their art education.

       It is the students of those lessons that have taken the initiative to present the valued collection to the public and the students of Peru as intended by the gracious donor G. David Thompson. A new gallery is being built in the high school along with high tech security. What a story! What a testament to the value of a good art education in the schools.

       I hope you get a chance to explore art in your area and if you get to the Midwest check out the venues at Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Unfortunately the premier showing of Hidden Treasures will be closing February 24. The student scholastic show continues until mid-April.

       And if you are in mid-Michigan during March and early April please come to the Shiawassee Art Center (206 Curwood Castle Drive, Owosso, MI 48867) to see Joel Ellis Art in the main gallery. Other artists in the building include blacksmith metal artist, Doug Thayer and photography by Karen Kangas-Preston. Opening reception is March 1 from 6 – 8 pm. 

       Hope to see you there.

Earth Cycle 18x24  acrylic on linen

Touch of Lavender  36x48  oil on canvas , Governor's  Residence selection

Wild Summer 30x40 acrylic on canvas

Three of the paintings in the upcoming show at Shiawassee Arts Center February 26-April 14

Opening Reception Friday, March 1 6-8 pm

Look about you, folks and enjoy!

Joel